Here is the character generation/ooc discussion thread for the game. I'll give you all a choice for ability scores: either 20 point buy or we roll 4d6 through the die roller and discard the lowest six times. If we roll, you must use your rolls unless you get all 5s, 3s, etc. Everyone uses the same method, so we need to vote on it.
Hook: all of you have been asked/forced to work with the clergy of Pharasma in the Bottoms district to discretely look into some disturbances in the ossuary below the cathedral. Perhaps you are a member of the congregation, but you need not be affiliated with the church: the faction you belong to may have loaned you out as a favor, perhaps the Pharasmins provided much needed healing in exchange for future services, etc.
I can offer more info on the neighborhoods and factions of Kaer Maga if you need it as well as help with backgrounds as you like.
It will be 95% dungeon starting out, if things go well and we expand to a full campaign then urban and subterranean sections will come in too. So a ranger or druid focused for those environments will do well. I would say only halflings or gnomes could really be mounted combatants since it will mostly take place in confined spaces.
For rangers, a Duskwarden would be a good fit or one of the Freemen of the Bottoms district. Or of course a complete independent.
I own it also, and have read it. Fantastic book; one of the best of the Campaign Setting line, IMO. James would know for sure, since he has the adventure, but I don't get the impression there's all that much spoiler-type material in it; in fact, I'd probably say it gives a great idea and flavor of what the city's like.
James - Are we allowed the standard books here - Core & APG? Any of the Campaign Setting or Companion books?
I own it also, and have read it. Fantastic book; one of the best of the Campaign Setting line, IMO. James would know for sure, since he has the adventure, but I don't get the impression there's all that much spoiler-type material in it; in fact, I'd probably say it gives a great idea and flavor of what the city's like.
James - Are we allowed the standard books here - Core & APG? Any of the Campaign Setting or Companion books?
Only the premise of the adventure is in the sourcebook, so no worries on immediate spoilage. Stuff outside of core and APG is on a case by case basis; tell what you're looking at and I'll think about it.
Point buy sounds good to me. I was also thinking of a mounted archer ranger, but I'm pretty flexible, so I'll see what other people are thinking before I start creation. Definitely some kind of ride-oriented halfling, though...
Great minds think alike I suppose. I was also thinking about a ranger/archer (not mounted). I'd still like to do a ranger, but I could go Melee.
Point buy or dice rolling are ok with me. Happy to go with point buy if that is the trend (particularly as the dice roller here has not been that good to me lately!).
Character-wise I will probably either go for a cleric of Pharasma or a melee based fighter (re-hashing Mal from the Explorers of the Inner Sea campaign as it looks like that one is probably dead in the water at this stage). I will think on it and see what others are playing.
James, I don’t have the City of Strangers book, have been seriously thinking of getting it ... if it’s recommended reading I’ll do so.
I highly recommend City of Strangers; I really think it's a perfect city book as well as an awesome location in the setting. There are so many cool ideas waiting to be fleshed out, great locations and strange neighborhoods and people that you wouldn't find in other books.
Jam412- no problem with that at all, though if you want to be a Duskwarden I would hesitate on taking urban ranger just because the favored terrain (dungeon) and (urban) seems like a handy thing for that type of character. Though, honestly, the favored community is just a more narrow version of favored terrain. So if you want urban ranger, we can just reskin it "Duskwarden" and re-introduce favored terrain as is, just limiting it to underground or urban areas.
Bryan- Yeah, you can certainly take Bloatmage Initiate and I'll seriously consider anything else you like. That goes for everyone.
It looks like 20 point buy has won out, so we can use that. I would like you to roll for starting gp along the equipment guidelines.
Probably a silly question, but are we starting at first level for this game?
Alright, you’ve pretty well convinced me on City of Strangers. Unfortunately this month’s AP subscription just shipped yesterday, so if I want to combine shipping it will probably be late February before I can get this in my hot little hands (I prefer hard copies to PDFs).
Hey, sorry about the unexpected absence - it's been a really crazy couple of days here (evidently now I'm a sleepwalker!) and now I have friends from out of town visiting.
When things quiet down, I think I'm going to make a Wolf Shaman druid, focusing on riding the wolf animal companion. So in terms of party make-up...
Jam412's Half-orc ranger
Max's Inquisitor
Randall's Oracle
Mothman's Cleric or Fighter
Bryan's bloatmage? What class is this going to be?
and one halfling druid.
My bloatmage will be a wizard, most likely. I was tossing around the idea of a witch or sorcerer, but in the end I decided to basically re-purpose a character from a defunct PbP who was an evoker ...
It looks as though we might have a fair few divine casters, some decent combat ability and an arcane caster.
I am happy to consider switching to a rogue type character if the general consensus is that the group could benefit from one. Chances are I would concentrate on trap finding / springing rather than a combat rogue in this case.
EDIT: I'm really not sure at this stage, haven't really settled on a solid concept for this game yet ... am not completely discarding the ideas of cleric or fighter yet.
We aren't using traits, right?Jam, is your ranger likley to be melee based?
Yup! I'm considering going for the two handed style and using a great axe. Also, I'm doing the urban ranger archetype so I'll have access to trap finding at 3rd level and disable device is a class skill for me.
I won't be nearly as good at those things as your rogue will be, but just so you know, you've got some backup. ;-)
I'm picturing my character as someone that the clergy of Pharasma has called in to look into the disturbances in the ossuary below the cathedral. While not a worshipper of Pharasma, my inquisitor of Sarenrae is something of a hunter of undead, and agrees with the Pharasmin view that it is a holy duty to put undead to rest (I'm assuming that the 'disturbances in the ossuary below the cathedral' involve undead).
Also, how, if at all, were people thinking their characters might be associated with the Church of Pharasma (or ... what’s your hook)?
Well, my ranger is going to be a Duskwarden. They are a faction that hunts down beasties in the tunnels below Kaer Magga. I'm assuming the Pharasman church will have petitioned them for aid in this matter.
The Duskwardens have made it their ongoing duty to map out the levels below Kaer Maga. The Church of Pharasma has long resisted opening the Ossuary to them for this, but now that they need help they've made an exchange- send someone in to help and while they're there they are allowed to make maps for the Duskwarden's records.
James,
Would this work for my wizard? Summary:
James,
Would this work for my wizard? Summary: ** spoiler omitted **
Bryan:
Max hp at first level, which extends to the animal companion- so 1d8+12 including first HD and Con bonus.
And what were you thinking about for a background? An escaped slave gone feral might work; you could have ties to the Freemen in the Bottoms. There are also halfling communities clustered around the city, some even inter-marrying with humans.
